Professor Paul Petrie

Biography

Professor Paul Petrie is the Principal Scientist, Viticulture and Program Leader of the Irrigated Crops group at the South Australian Research and Development Institute. He also holds the roles of Affiliate Professor at the University of Adelaide, Associate Professor at Flinders University and Adjunct Associate Professor at the UNSW. He is a Fellow and past president of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.

Paul has extensive experience in the Australian wine industry which includes working in research and extension at the Australian Wine Research Institute and as the National Viticulturist at Treasury Wine Estates. He grew up helping his parents establish a vineyard in New Zealand and before moving to Australia for a role at CSIRO where he completed a PhD on canopy management at Lincoln University.

Paul leads a viticultural research program aiming to improve the resilience of Australian vineyards; improving their productivity and ability to adapt to climate change. This work includes projects developing strategies to better manage dry winters and to understand and manage vintage compression.

He also has an active interest in the application of technology to the wine industry and has previously developed a system to assess grapevine water status using a thermal camera mounted on a smartphone and is currently working on a project to assess and map grapevine trunk diseases using an action camera. Paul supports a wide range of horticultural projects, including the development of high-density almond orchards and the assessment of the recovery of apples and cherries after bushfire damage.

Research interests

• Productive, efficient and resilient horticultural and viticultural systems
• The links between viticulture and oenology throughout the production chain
• Understanding the impact of, adapting to, and developing practices to mitigate climate change in viticulture and horticulture
• Modelling vineyard and horticultural systems to support decision making

Qualifications

• PhD, 2003, Lincoln University
• B. Hort. Sci. (Hons I), 1998, Lincoln University

Research affiliations

• Affiliate Associate Professor, Flinders University
• Affiliate Professor, The University of Adelaide
• Adjunct Associate Professor, University of New South Wales

Professional affiliations

Fellow, Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology